The present invention relates to a new and useful protective cushion for a foot rest bracket of a wheelchair and to a new and useful method of providing the protective cushion to a foot rest bracket of a wheelchair.
Most wheelchairs provide for removable attachment of footrests. The footrests are pivotally and removably fitted to the front legs of the wheelchair with the use of foot rest brackets. FIG. 2 is an illustration of a typical foot rest bracket for a wheelchair. The foot rest brackets are permanently attached to the front legs of the wheelchair above the front wheels. These foot rest brackets cause numerous injuries ranging from bruises and skin tears and severe lacerations that can take weeks to heal. Such injuries occur primarily during transfer of wheelchair patients with limited mobility, whether the patient is being assisted or getting out of the wheelchair on their own. FIG. 1 illustrates the manner in which a patient's leg can encounter a foot rest bracket in a manner that can cause the types of injuries described above.
While foot rest brackets on wheelchairs are inherently dangerous and continue to cause severe injuries, the solutions available in prior art for protectively covering these foot rest brackets are expensive and not practical for common use.
The present invention addresses these issues and provides a thick soft barrier from injury for patients that is a simple, convenient, inexpensive, practical, reusable device that can be applied or removed to the footrest bracket of a wheelchair in seconds, is preferably waterproof and easily wiped or washed clean and reapplied, that can be sized to fit foot rest brackets that are placed close to each other or inches apart, of various sizes and configurations and makes of wheelchair foot rest brackets.
According to the invention, a substantially monolithic body is provided that has a substantially closed C shape, a relatively soft, cushion like texture and a thickness that is slightly greater than a foot rest bracket of a wheelchair. The substantially monolithic C shaped body is biased to a closed C shape cushion and can be manually operated to open the C shaped body and enable the C shaped body to surround a foot rest bracket of a wheelchair. In order to apply the protective cushion to a wheelchair foot rest bracket, the C shaped body is manually opened and positioned about a foot rest bracket of a wheelchair. Then the C shaped body is released to enable the C shaped body to return under its bias to a substantially closed position in which the C shaped body substantially surrounds the foot rest bracket and provides a protective cushion for the foot rest bracket.
The contour of the protective cushion is designed to fit easily and comfortably about (a) a wheelchair leg shaft, and (b) the bracket blade and wheelchair post that typically form the foot rest bracket for supporting a wheelchair foot rest.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.